MMA-UFC UFC on Fox: dos Anjos vs Cerrone

[Gigantic]

Thought I'd get us started on a thread for another card this weekend. There are some great fights on this card.

Main Card
Rafael dos Anjos (c) vs. Donald Cerrone
Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem
Michael Johnson vs. Nate Diaz
Randa Markos vs. Karolina Kowalkiewicz

Preliminary Card
Charles Oliveira vs. Myles Jury
C.B. Dollaway vs. Nate Marquardt
Sarah Kaufman vs. Valentina Shevchenko
Josh Samman vs. Tamdan McCrory
Nik Lentz vs. Danny Castillo
Cole Miller vs. Jim Alers
Leon Edwards vs. Kamaru Usman
Hayder Hassan vs. Vicente Luque
Luiz Henrique vs. Francis Ngannou

 

[gO_bOmBeRz]

Good god almighty look at that for a free to air card. The UFC is taking over.

 

[BradWCE]

RDA/Cerrone 2 is great.

JDS/Overeem is very good. JDS should KO him, right?

As much as I love the Diaz brothers, this fight isn't interesting. Maybe Diaz could somehow submit him, but it's very likely that he gets his arse kicked.

Markos/Kowalkiewicz is good. Kowalkiewicz is a good striker. Markos isn't a great striker, but she's a good offensive wrestler. Will likely be an interesting striker vs grappler bout. Actually now that I think about it, Kowalkiewicz is a pretty good grappler from memory too. So not solely a grappler vs striker fight, but I'd expect Markos to want to take the fight to the mat and Kowalkiewicz to want to keep it standing.

I love Oliveira/Jury. Jury cutting to 145 pounds seems like it might not be the best idea though. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but he was pretty big for LW, right?

This will be a bad loss for Dolloway if he doesn't win. Marquardt doesn't have much left at all.

Samman/McCrory is good. Okay, I'll stop now. The whole card is pretty damn great.

Edit: Do yourself a favour and watch Karolina Kowalkiewicz vs Mizuki Inoue from Invicta. It's a great fight.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

I don't see Cerrone doing much better against RDA than he did last time honestly. I recall him having the better of the stand up (pretty sure he rocked Cowboy with a head kick at some stage) and has a much better wrestling/BJJ game to boot. Cerrone's toughness will keep him in it for a while, but I see RDA winning handily.

I'll be interested to see how much Junior has left in the tank. He's taken pretty awful beatings from Cain x 2 and Miocic in his last 4 fights. A few years back I'd have expected him to crack Overeem's chin early and brutally, but now I've got a funny feeling that this will be a lot more competetive than many will expect.

Johnson will kick Diaz's leg in to oblivion and win decisively IMO. I don't get the match making on this one... Diaz is coming off a bad loss (admittedly to the champ) and Johnson should arguably be on a five fight winning streak.

I love Oliveira/Jury. Jury cutting to 145 pounds seems like it might not be the best idea though. Maybe I'm completely wrong, but he was pretty big for LW, right?

He was reasonably tall for a lightweight, but didn't appear to me to be particularly big for the weight class. If the cut goes well, I think he'll be able to do some damage at 145, but Oliveira is a tough first up assignment.

 

[War Machine]

I think Dos Anjos destroys Cerrone in this one. Cerrone is a different fighter when he is switched on, but I don't think it'll be enough.

I would like him to win though. A match-up against Conor would break records and Conor would take the belt with ease.

Not sure I can handle another PPV so soon. I've got blockbuster fatigue after the weekend's events

 

[thetradesman]

What a card for FTA.

I hope Cerrone wins.

And Overeem.

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

I'd like to see Reem beat JDS. No one seems to give Overeem a chance, I think he could shock some people. That glass chin though...

 

[Guy Threepwood]

I'd like to see Reem beat JDS. No one seems to give Overeem a chance, I think he could shock some people. That glass chin though...

I have just three posts earlier. Reem's chin is always going to be an issue, but he seems to be fighting smarter since linking up with Jackson's camp. He's also had a habit of winning fights up until he gets caught, so I can certainly see him doing well initially against Junior. Whether he can avoid/withstand Junior's power will be the deciding factor in this fight IMO.

 

[Shaxx Attaxx]

I have just three posts earlier. Reem's chin is always going to be an issue, but he seems to be fighting smarter since linking up with Jackson's camp. He's also had a habit of winning fights up until he gets caught, so I can certainly see him doing well initially against Junior. Whether he can avoid/withstand Junior's power will be the deciding factor in this fight IMO.

Yeah I think he was winning all of his fights and looking quite good but then got lazy and got KOed 3 times. Will only take one semi good shot from JDS to end it though and I can't see him not landing one by the end of the three rounds. Mind you Reem's striking is nothing to sleep on. Very intrigued by the fight.

 

[gO_bOmBeRz]

Very interesting to see the predictions for the main-event.

I've actually got Cerrone taking it out.

 

[Guy Threepwood]

Yeah I think he was winning all of his fights and looking quite good but then got lazy and got KOed 3 times. Will only take one semi good shot from JDS to end it though and I can't see him not landing one by the end of the three rounds. Mind you Reem's striking is nothing to sleep on. Very intrigued by the fight.

I think it was more that he gassed badly against Brown (could be argued the fight should have been stopped) and Bigfoot rather than getting lazy. His drop of muscle mass over the last year or so seems to have improved his cardio, so that may not be as much of an issue as previous. That, combined to the beatings Junior has taken in 3 of his last 4 fights leads me to believe this could be a decent fight.

Very interesting to see the predictions for the main-event.

I've actually got Cerrone taking it out.

How do you see Cerrone winning it? He's improved over the last few years, but RDA appears to have improved more and has already beaten him convincingly. The only chance I see for Cerrone is if the conspiracy theorists were right about RDA's improvements coming from PED's and with the more extensive testing he won't be the same fighter without them.

 

[gO_bOmBeRz]

 

[Barry Roundhouse]

would love to see cowboy win this.. one of my favs, but RDA's pressure and takedowns will get him the victory in this fight.

can't see the Reem standing in boxing range against dos santos. I'm sure Greg Jackson will want leg and body kicks early and then when junior steps in he will be looking for the take down. Reem by decision.

can't believe Marquart didn't retire after that last effort. hope he doesn't get knocked out to bad.

 

[bkozican]

Im with bomber_mad_1989 ...Cowboy for the win

 

[thetradesman]

RDA will knock him out with a big right.

 

[bkozican]

Cant see Overeem winning. Personally think JDS will ko him in the 2nd.

When Johnson and Diaz was announced...I was excited but I get the feeling MJ will run over Diaz with ease now

 

[Barry Roundhouse]

Im with bomber_mad_1989 ...Cowboy for the win

we can only hope!! his paying $2.75. think he should be longer than that..

but imagine McGregor v Cowboy at Croke park in front of 80,000!!

 

[Jab]

I want Cowboy and Nate to win, they're both one of my favourite guys to watch, but their match-ups aren't great for either of them. RDA might look different post roids, which is probably the biggest change from the last time they fought. If Cerrone can keep the fight going into the 4th and 5th rounds and RDA doesn't have the "juice" to keep on pressuring the fight, this is when Cowboy's kick boxing could finish the fight. That's what I'm hoping for.

Nate is in a world of trouble in this fight. His BJJ is amazing but Johnson will just smother him, or at least attempt to. Johnson;s striking has improved but his hands aren't on the level of Nates. That said, he would have the power advantage. This has the makings of the Josh Thompson fight all over, or the the Maynard fight. One had the towel thrown in and the other went to a decision, neither ended up in a win for the 205. I hope that I'm wrong.

 

[BradWCE]

Heading into the fight I didn't care if Cerrone or RDA won. Now I hope RDA destroys him. Both have improved a lot since their last fight and while I think RDA will win, I wouldn't be that shocked if Cerrone did.

Then if Cerrone wins it'll be RDA's off of steroids now for sure. Cause Brazil duh. Even though the only one out of these two to fail a drug test is Cerrone. Lol

Something else to point out is that Cerrone is allowed to use an IV to rehydrate, but RDA isn't. I can't recall exactly why, but Cerrone apparently had an accident that ended up with him having a decent amount of his intestines removed or something like that. I've got nothing against him being able to use an IV.

 

[Jab]

Heading into the fight I didn't care if Cerrone or RDA won. Now I hope RDA destroys him.

Booooooooo

 

[Gigantic]

I still haven't got over the fights last weekend and now we're only a few days out from another great card with some significant fights.

Genuinely don't know who I want to win between RDA and Cowboy. Sitting completely in neutral atm.

 

[Barry Roundhouse]

I still haven't got over the fights last weekend and now we're only a few days out from another great card with some significant fights.

Genuinely don't know who I want to win between RDA and Cowboy. Sitting completely in neutral atm.

go with cowboy.. will be good seeing a champion taking a fight on 2 weeks notice to defend his title

 

[BradWCE]

Now I've remembered something else. Cerrone didn't tell USADA where he'd be one day in the last month or two. They showed up to test him and he wasn't there. So he's failed a drug test in the past and recently got an infraction for essentially skipping a test because he didn't inform USADA where he'd be.

But RDA's the one who'll get all the attention about whether he's using or not any more.

Lol

 

[Jab]

Now I've remembered something else. Cerrone didn't tell USADA where he'd be one day in the last month or two. They showed up to test him and he wasn't there. So he's failed a drug test in the past and recently got an infraction for essentially skipping a test because he didn't inform USADA where he'd be.

But RDA's the one who'll get all the attention about whether he's using or not any more.

Lol

You don't honestly think that RDA never doped? I'm with you 100% on the US thinking that all their athletes are clean while the 'dirty Brazilians' are the 'real' cheaters, which is rubbish, but RDA certainly is suspicious when it comes to doping.

 

[BradWCE]

You don't honestly think that RDA never doped? I'm with you 100% on the US thinking that all their athletes are clean while the 'dirty Brazilians' are the 'real' cheaters, which is rubbish, but RDA certainly is suspicious when it comes to doping.

I don't know. Just like I don't know about anyone unless they've failed a test. He probably has though. Most fighters probably have. You hear fighters saying everyone's on something except for them. I've heard some say it's 80 or 90%.

How's RDA any more suspicious than most other fighters?